"Henceforward all generations will call me blessed": Medieval Christian Tales of Non-Christian

Marian Veneration
Author(s): Alexandra Cuffel
Source: Mediterranean Studies, Vol. 12 (2003), pp. 37-60
Published by: Penn State University Press
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 "Henceforwardall generationswill
call meblessed": medieval christian
Tales of Non-ChristianMarian
Veneration

Alexandra el
Cuff

In the midst of the European Christian discovery of Muslim and extra-

biblical Jewish texts and Christians' struggle for religious and political
dominance,which began in the twelfthand thirteenth centuries,real or imagined
Muslim and Jewish veneration of the Virgin Mary became both a source of
wonder for European Christiansand a rhetoricalweapon by which Christians
could assert theirreligious dominance, at least in theirown minds, even in the
face of their clear militaryfailure in the Holy Land. In this article I will
demonstratethatthe strategiesfor expressing thatdominance varied depending
on whetherthe Christianauthorswere located in areas of Europe where Muslims
were a distant and relatively unthreateningand unobserved "other," or were
writingin regions in which Christiansand Muslims were regularlyat war and in
which Christians had the opportunityto observe Muslim practice. Christian
interpretations of actual Muslim reverence toward Mary were filteredthrough
the growingexegetical traditionsurroundingLuke 1:48 "Behold all generations
shall call me blessed" in which Mary functionedas a universal intercessor,even
forcriminals,Muslims, and Jews.
After comparing European and Near Eastern tales of Muslim encounters
withthe Virgin,I explore how shared venerationof Mary came close to creating
a single religious communityin which the carefully delineated boundaries of
religious differencetemporarilydisintegrated. The threatof such disintegration
deeply disturbedboth Christianand Muslim religious authorities. As a result
each side attemptedeitherto condemn shared ritualscenteringaround Mary, or
to appropriateher and venerationof her by outsidersas signs of God's favorfor
the writer'sown faith. In the last segment of the article I show that the same
patternsof conversionversus non-conversionthatexist in European- versus Near
Eastern-basedstoriesof Muslims also hold true fortales of Jews. Nevertheless
the Christianauthorssought to establish a hierarchyin which Jews were at the
bottomrelativeto the Muslims.

37

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38 Alexandra Cuffel

From Veneration to Conversion: Tales of Muslimsand the

VirginMaryinEurope

In contradistinction
to therareand generallynegativedepictionsof Maryin late
antiqueand medievalJewishliterature, Mary,thevirginmotherof theprophet
Jesus,figuresprominently in the Qur'an.1 Accordingto medievalIslamic
Marywas one oftheonlywomento attainprophethood.2
literature, So greatwas
herpietyand connection to God,thatone earlymodernIndianauthorevenwent
so faras to say thatshe was "masculine"in herdevotionto Allah.3 Palestine,
Syria,and Egyptwere and are litteredwithpools in whichthe holy family
bathedor drank,curativetreesso renderedbecause theywere nourishedwith
such water,and caves in whichtheholy familysupposedlytookrefugefrom
Herod. These caves,knownas "milkgrottos," weremadewhitewhensome of
Mary's milk drippedupon thefloorof thecave. Alongwiththeholypools and
trees,thesecaves became sitesof pilgrimage thoseMuslimsand Christians
for
to
wishing express their devotion to Mary (and Jesus)and to seek healing.4

'On late antiqueand medievalJewishviews of Mary see [ToledotJesu] Das Leben Jesu nach
jüdischen Quellen, ed. and trans.Samuel Krauss (Berlin, 1902; reprint,New York, 1978);
BabylonianTalmud(henceforward BT) Yevamot49b; BT Shabbat 104b and BT Sanhédrin67a;
Yehiel ben Josephof Paris,VikuahRabenuYéhïel mi-Paris(Thorn,1873),4-6; AlexandraCuffel,
"FilthyWords/Filthy Bodies: GenderingDisgust in Twelfth-and Thirteenth-Century Jewish-
ChristianPolemic,"PH.D. Diss. (New York University, 2002), 119-20,147-56,253-78; William
ChesterJordan,"Marian Devotion and the Talmud Trial of 1240," in Religionsgespräche im
ed. BernardLewis andFriedrich
Mittelalter, Niedwöhner, Wolfenbütteler 4 (New
Mittelalter-Studien
York, 1997), 53-64; JohnV. Tolan,Saracens: Islam in theMedievalEuropeanImagination(New
York,2002), 16-18. On Muslimviewssee Qur'an v. 3, 42-48,4:156, 19:16-40,21:19, 66:12, and
generally:JeanMuhammadAbd-el-Jalil, Marieet l'Islam (Paris,1950); GiulioBasetti-Sani,
Maria e
Gesùfigliodi Maria nel Corano(Palma, 1989); JaneDämmenMcAuliffe, "Chosenof All Women:
MaryandFatimain Qur'anicExegesis,"Islamochristiana 7 (1981): 19-28;AliahSchleifer,Marythe
Blessed VirginofIslam(Louisville,1998); JaneI. Smithand YvonneY. Haddad,"The VirginMary
in Islamic Traditionand Commentary," Muslim World79:3-4 (1989): 161-87; Barbara Freyer
Stowasser,Womenin the Qur'an: Traditionsand Interpretations (New York, 1994), 59-80; Tim
Winter,"Pulchra Ut Luna: Some reflections on theMarianthemein Muslim-Catholic Dialogue,"
JournalofEcumenicalStudies36:3-4(1999): 439-69.
2Stowasser, Womenin theQur'an,77; Schleifer, Mary,73-92; Ida Zillio-Grandi,"La storiadi Maria
nel Corano:Una sopravvivenza del mitodell'androgino?,"Annalidi Ca'Foscari 36:3 (1997): 83-97.
The issue of Mary's prophethood continuesto be discussedin moderncontexts,but theydo not
concernus here. See SchleiferandStowasser.
3ShahWali Allah, Ta'wail al-Ahadith fi RumuzQisas al-Anbiya':A MysticalInterpretation of
PropheticTales by an Indian Muslim,trans.J. M. S. Baljon (Leiden, 1973), 52-3, discussedin
Mary,90. Marygainedthis"masculine"temperament
Schleifer, becausehermother
initially desired
a male childso muchthatMary'sdispositionand perfection of bodywas influenced by thisdesire.
Herspiritualpuritywas also favorablyinfluenced byHannah'sdesire.On Maryas malein medieval
Islamictradition "La storiadi MarianelCorano."
see Zillio-Grandi,
4Onthissee discussionbelow.

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 Medieval Tales of Non-Christian Marian Veneration 39

WhilemedievalMuslimsand Christianssharedmanybeliefsaboutthe Virgin

Maryand traveledto thesamepilgrimagesitesto benefitfromherintercession,
knowledgeof one another'sviews and practiceswas relatively one-sided. The
Qur'anitselfinformed Muslimsofmanyoftheverybasic Christian beliefsabout
Mary and her son. Muslims in the Near East and al-Andalushad ample
opportunity to build upon theirknowledgebecause of theircontactwiththe
Christianminoritieswho lived undertheirrule,or,aftertheReconquest,from
theirChristianoverlordsin Iberia. ChristianslivingunderMuslimrule were
likewisefamiliarwiththeiroverlords'beliefs.Because of languagebarriers and
geographic distance,however,Christians livingin LatinEuropeoutsideof Iberia
and Sicilyremainedlargelyignorant of thedetailsof theIslamicfaithuntilthe
twelfthcentury when,as partof a new missionizing tactic,Christians
advocated
learningHebrewand Arabic the betterto understand the religiousbeliefsof
those whomtheyhoped to convert. Thus, certainlearnedChristiansbegan
reading and translatingthe Qur'an, even as crusading,pilgrimage,and,
occasionally,active missionizingbreachedthe geographicdistancebetween
MuslimsandWesternChristians.5
Christiandiscussionsof Muslimviews of Maryin formalpolemicaltracts
tendedto railagainstthe"errors"of theMuslimsat thesametimethatChristian
writersdefendedtheChristian positionagainstMuslimobjections.For example,
ChristiansregardedMary as the humanityof Jesus - the sole physical
contributorof hisbodyand humannature.Thisphysicalrelationship was at the
centerofthebondbetweenMaryand Christ,and also at thecenterofherpowers
of intercession.6Compilersof MarianmiraclespositedthatJesus,divineson of
God thoughhe was, could not refusethe woman who had nursedhim.7
Muslims,all too awareof thisaspectof Christiantheology,arguedthatJesus

5Onthisphenomenon in generalsee ThomasBurman,ReligiousPolemicand theIntellectual History

oftheMozoarabs(Leiden/New York,1994); Jeremy Cohen,TheFriarsand theJews:TheEvolution
of Medieval Anti-Judaism (Ithaca, 1982); Benjamin Kedar, Crusade and Mission: European
ApproachestowardtheMuslims(Princeton,1984); JamesKritzeck, Peterthe Venerableand Islam
(Princeton,1964).
6Hubertus PetrusJohannesMaria Ahsmann,Le cultede la Sainte Viergeet la littératurefrançaise
profanedu moyenâge (Paris,1930), 77, 137; CarolineWalkerBynum,"The Body of Christin the
LaterMiddleAges: A Replyto Leo Steinberg," in Bynum,Fragmentation and Redemption:Essays
on Genderand theHumanBody in MedievalReligion(New York, 1992), 79-117; Cunei, "Filthy
Words/Filthy Bodies," 221-8; Mirella Levi D'Ancona, The Iconographyof the Immaculate
Conceptionin theMiddleAges and Early Renaissance(New York, 1957), 34-5; Ellen Ross, The
Griefof God: Images of theSuffering Jesus in Late MedievalEngland(New York, 1997), 50-1;
MarinaWarner, AloneofAllHer Sex: TheMythand CultoftheVirginMary(New York,1976), 192-
205.
7Gautierde Coincy,Les miraclesde NostreDame, ed. FrédéricKoenig,4 vols. (Geneva, 1955-
1970), v. 1, 32-3, v. 3, 147, 230-3, 284; Gonzalo de Berceo, Milagrosde NuestraSeñora, ed.
FernandoBaños (Barcelona,1997), milagro3: stanza 109; Gonzalo de Berceo,Miracles of Our
Lady,trans.RichardTerryMountandAnnette GrantCash (Lexington,1997),milagro3: stanza109.

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40 Alexandra Cuffel

could notbe divinepreciselybecause he was theson of Mary. For themthe

imageof theomniscient, omnipotent,pureGod dwellingin thelimited,impure
space of a human woman's womb was repugnant.Mary,reveredthoughshe
was, was proofof Jesus'humanity, and onlyhis humanity.8Furious,Christian
writerscounteredthatMary was perfectly pure,and therewas no shame or
diminishment ofthedivinity
whenhe tookon humanforminMary'swomb.9
In thesemedievaltextsthatformally outlineand refuteChristian,Muslim,
or Jewishbelief,Maryis a passiveobjectoftheologicaldisputation.In exemplq
(collectionsof edifying
storiesoftenused forsermons)andpilgrimage accounts,
however,theVirginMaryfoughtand won herownbattleswiththeMuslims -
notwithargumentation or swords,butwithmiracles.Accordingto one tale in
theCantigasde Santa Maria, attributed to thethirteenth-century
King Alfonso
theWise of Castile,Maryprevented marauding Muslimsfromdefacingtheholy
imagesand thealtarof a church,muchas she did in othertalesconcerning the

8Thisdebate appears in Christianand Muslimsourcesveryearlyduringthe Christian-Muslim

encounter - well beforewe have tracesof it as a pointof contention betweenChristianEuropeans
and Muslims. See A. Abel, "La lettrepolémiqued'Aréthasà l'émirde Damas,"Byzantion:revue
internationale des étudesbyzantines 24:2 (1954): 343-70,esp. 359; Arthur Jeffery, "Ghevond'stext
of thecorrespondence between'Umar II and Leo III," HarvardTheologicalReview37:4 (1949):
269-332, esp. 278, 318-20; Dominique Sourdel,"Un pamphletmusulmananonymed'époque
'abbasidecontreles chrétiens,"Revuedes étudesislamiques34 (1966): 2-34; al-Jahiz, Al-Mukhtarfi
al-radd 'ala al-Nasara, ed. Muhammad'Abd Allah al-Sharqawi(Cairo, 1984), 33 (section7);
Muhammadibn al-Tayyibal-Baqillani,Kitab al-tamhid,éd. RichardJosephMcCarthy(Beirut,
1957),95-7;LiberDenudatisin Burman,ReligiousPolemic,348/349-358/359. MedievalJewsalso
adoptedthistypeof argumentation.See Anna Sapir Abulafia,"Bodies in the Jewish-Christian
debate,"in FramingMedievalBodies,ed. Sara Kay and MiriRubin(Manchester/New York,1994),
123-37; idem,Christiansand Jewsin the Twelfth-Century Renaissance(New York, 1995), 81-5,
107-9;and herintroduction to GilbertCrispin,The Worksof GilbertCrispin,Abbotof Westminster,
ed. Anna Sapir Abulafiaand G. R. Evans (London/NewYork, 1986), xxvii-xxxv. She is more
interested in the WesternChristianreactionto these arguments.Cuffel,"FilthyWords/Filthy
Bodies,"262-72;Daniel J.Lasker,JewishPhilosophicalPolemicsagainstChristianity in theMiddle
Ages(New York,1977); Laskerand SarahStroumsa'sintroduction to theireditionof ThePolemicof
NestorthePriest:Qissat mujadalatal- 'usqufand SeferNestorha-Komer,ed. and trans.Daniel J.
Lasker and Sarah Stroumsa,2 vols. (Jerusalem,1996) and paragraph5, Judeo-Arabic v. 2, 51,
Englishv. 1, 53, the Hebrewversionof the same: v. 2, 28, Englishtrans:v. 1, 98; and then
paragraphs 74, 82 Judeo-Arabicv. 2, 51, v. 2, 54, col. 1, Englishv. 1, 67, v. 1, 68; JosephQimhi,
Seferha-Berit,u-vikuhe Radak 'imha-Natsrut, ed. FrankTalmage(Jerusalem, 1974), 29, idem,The
BookoftheCovenantofJosephKimhi,trans.FrankTalmage(Toronto,1972),36; JosephbenNathan
Official,SeferYosefha-mekane, ed. JudahRosenthal(Jerusalem, 1970),49-51,65, 119, 125; Jacob
ben Reuben,Milhamotha-Shem,ed. JudahRosenthal(Jerusalem, 1963); [Sefernitsahonyashan
Hebrewand English]TheJewish-Christian Debate in theHigh MiddleAges: A CriticalEditionof
NizzahonVetus,ed. and trans.David Berger(Philadelphia,1979),paragraphs 6, 39, 143, 145, 152,
173, Hebrew5-6, 27, 91-3,94-7, 103-4,121; English 43-4, 67-8, 147-8,150-5,164-5,183-4 and
Berger'scomments on 350-4.
LiberDenudatisin Burman, ReligiousPolemic,348/349-358/359.

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 Medieval Tales of Non-Christian Marian Veneration 41

Muslims'attempted invasionofConstantinople in theEast.10In thesestoriesshe

caused a windto blow the Muslims' arrowsback at them,thusdefeatingthe
Muslimsand defending theByzantinecity.11Attacking anything sacredto Mary
was a dangerousbusiness,one thatMuslims,Jews,or faithlessChristians were
sureto lose accordingto theChristian collectorsofmiracletales.12This storyin
theCantigasof Muslimsseekingto desecratean altarsacredto Mary,or some
versionsof the Muslims' attack on Constantinople, set up an adversarial
relationshipbetweenMaryand theMuslimsendingin thedeathof theMuslims.
Violence,however,was nottheonlyor eventheusualdenouement to encounters
betweenMary and non-Christians.Europeanexemplacollectionsfrequently
includedan accountof a Muslimin Egyptwho is accostedby a womanand her
infantduringa timeof famine.The womanbegs forfood,and whentheMuslim
offershis last morselof breadto thewoman,he returns hometo findthathis
granaries are full. In certainversions,the of
identity thewomanand herchild
remainsanonymous,at othersshe is clearlyequated with the VirginMary
carrying theinfant Jesus.13
The significance of thisstoryis thatChristianauthorsare portraying Mary
as willingto assistMuslimsand rewardthemforgood deeds,despiteMuslim
oppositionto Christianity. Not beingChristian was notreasonenoughto deter

10Alfonso X, King of Castile and Leon, Cantigasde Santa Maria, ed. WalterMettmann, 3 vols.
(Madrid, 1986-89), Cantiga 99, also idem, Songs of Holy Mary of AlfonsoX, The Wise: A
Translation of theCantigasde Santa Maria, trans.KathleenKulp-Hill(Tempe,2000), Cantiga99.
FortalesoftheMuslimattackon Constantinople see Cantigasno. 28; "El librode los Exemplos,"in
Bibliotecade autoresespañoles. Escritoresenprosa anteriores al sigloXV,v. 5 1, ed. P. de Gáyanos
(Madrid,1860),no. 206. ComparewithEtiennede Bourbonne, Anecdoteshistoriques, légendeset
apologuestirésdu recueilinéditd'Etiennede Bourbonne, Dominicandu XIHe siècle (Paris, 1877),
no. 3 18 (theretheenemiesare"heretics," notMuslims),andwithCantigasde Santa Maria,cantigas
nos. 185, 215, 229. These tales are part of what Mary St. Louis Trivisondubs "cantigasof
preference."MarySt. Louis Trivison,"Prayerand Prejudicein theCSM," Cantigueiros:Bulletinof
theCantigueiros de Santa Maria 1:2 (1988): 119-27. However,thistoposwas not limitedto the
Cantigasde SantaMaria.
In some versions,such as theone containedin theCantigas,theChristians themselvesshootthe
arrowsat theMuslims.In all cases Mary'smantleprotects theChristians.
12Forexamplesof "bad" Christianspunishedfor theirdisrespectful behaviortowardMary see
Etiennede Bourbonne,Anecdoteshistoriques, nos. 131, 133; Caesariusof Heisterbach, Dialogus
Miraculorum, 2 vols., ed. JosephStrange(Cologne/Bonn/Bruxelles, 1933-37),v. 2, 7, 41, 43, 44;
Gonzalo de Berceo,Milagrosde NuestraSeñora,milagrosnos. 17, 24; Cantigasde Santa Maria,
cantigasnos. 19,72, 238, 293, 294, 317. ForJewsso punishedsee Cantigas,nos. 34, 108,286 and
Jacobusde Voragine,LegendaAurea,ed. GiovanniPaulo Maggioni,2 vols., 2nd ed. (Taramuzze,
1998),no. 119; translated in: The GoldenLegend:Readingson theSaints,2 vols., trans.William
GrangerRyan(Princeton, 1993),v. 2, 77-97. Also see discussionin: Trivison,"Prayerand Prejudice
intheCSM."
13Étienne de Bourbonne, Anecdoteshistoriques, no. 89 (in thisversiontheMuslimand his familyare
inspiredto be baptized);Catalogueof Romancesin theDepartment of Manuscriptsin theBritish
Museum, v. 3, ed. J. A. Herbert(London, 1910), 469, no. 31, 607, no. 17, 660, no. 291.

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42 Alexandra Cuffel

Mary fromcomingto a person'said. In moststoriesoriginating fromLatin

Europe, such encounters almost invariablyresultedin theMuslim's conversion
to Christianity.For example,in Blanquerna,a kind of spiritual"romance"
writtenin the thirteenth centuryby the ChristianArabicist,Ramon Lull of
Aragon,a Christianknight,recentlyconvertedto the love and serviceof the
VirginLady Mary,challengesa Saracenkingfordishonoring theLady Mary.
The kingreplies,quiterightly,thatMuslimsdid honortheVirgin,butas a holy
womanand motherof a prophet.This recognition by Muslimsis notenough
honor,accordingto the Christianknight,and he challengesa memberof the
Muslimcourtto fighta duel withhimto provethattheLady Marywas also the
motherof God. When the Saracenknightis wounded,he, like his Christian
counterpart,chants"blessedartthouamongwomen"and agreesto all thatthe
Christianknightclaims about Mary.14 Unfortunately for both knights,the
Saracenkingis notconvinced, andhas thembothexecuted.
Whatconverted theMuslimwarrior in thisanecdote,as in similartales,was
not Christianity as a whole, but love of the Virgin Mary.15 Sometimes
conversion comesas a resultof a peacefulprocessof reflection.In one account
commonto Johnof Garland,Gautierof Coincy, and Alfonso the Wise's
collectionof Marianmiracles,a Muslim,who is fascinated by an imageof the
VirginMary thathe has either
found or stolenas lootfrom the Christians,spends
considerabletimecontemplating thebeautifully dressedrepresentation of Mary.
Eventually Maryexudesmilkor oil, dependingon theversion,fromherbreast,
inspiring Muslimto convertto Christianity.16
the At othertimes,Muslimsbeg
forassistancein timesof greatdistress,
as in thestoryof a Muslimwomanwho
carriesherdead son to Mary'sshrinein Salas, in Zaragoza,Spain and bargains

14Ramon Lull,Blanquerna:A Thirteenth CenturyRomance,trans.E. AllisonPeers(London,1926),

chap.64, sections12-16,253-5. The twoarequotingfromLuke 1:42. On theaccuracyofEuropean
Christianknowledgeof Islamin generalsee Tolan,Saracens(muchofhisbooktoucheson thisissue
in one way or another)and NormanDaniel,Islam and theWest(Edinburgh, 1960), 17-45;on Mary
andJesusspecifically see 166-75.
AmyRemensnyder has also noticedtheimportance of Maryin theconversionaccountsof non-
Christiansin thelateMiddleAges. See herunpublished paper,"The VirginMaryand Conversionin
MedievalSpain and ColonialMexico,"presented at theShelbyCollomDavis CenterforHistorical
Studies,16 February 2001. My thanksto Professor Remensnyder forsharingherunpublished work.
Also see Trivison,"Prayerand Prejudicein the CSM." These conversiontales fall intothe two
categorieswhich she designates"exempla" and "marvels." "Exempla" in the Cantigas are,
accordingtoher,talesin whichtheVirginrespondsfavorably to theprayersofa Jewor Muslimwho
thenasks forbaptism.The "marvels"are songspraisingtheVirginformiraclesthatshe performs
merelybecause a suppliantturnsto her or honorsher. Many of these storiesalso resultin
conversion,however. The name '''exempla"fora certaintypeof song in the Cantigas is a bit
misleadingsince mostof thesestories,whetheror nottheMuslimsor Jewsconvert,belongto the
genreofexempla.
10
Joannesde Garlandia,TheStella Maris ofJohnof Garland,ed. EvelynFay Wilson(Cambridge,
1946),no. 7, 106; Gautierde Coincy,Les miracles,v. 3, 23-6; Cantigas,no. 46.

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 Medieval Tales of Non-Christian Marian Veneration 43

with the Virgin for her son's life. Mary revives the child, and the woman
immediatelyconverts,always holding Mary in "great reverence."17 European
Christianauthors were attributingthese miracles of powerful intercessionand
conversionto Mary just as the Virgin and the humanityof Jesus were becoming
greater focal points of Christian devotion than either had been previously.18
Eager to convince Christianlistenersat home, exempla writersreveled in Mary's
power. That she earned the venerationof even Christianity'senemies testifiedto
her potency. That these "enemies" also convertedassured Christiansof the truth
of Christianityand of theireventualvictoryover Islam.19

Veneration without Conversion: Latin Christian Tales of

Muslims and Mary in the Near East

In the Near East, however, where the greatestnumberof Christiannarrationsof

Muslim devotion for Mary appear as part of European pilgrimage accounts,
Mary's dealings with Muslims and vice versa differconsiderablyfromtales of
similar encounters from Europe. In the Eastern Mediterranean, Christians
delightand wonder at Muslim venerationof Mary and sometimes even tell of
Mary forcingMuslims to pay her or Christiansmore respect. But in such tales
the Muslims do not convert to Christianity.20 Rather, Mary is the "pious
advocate of all who call upon her." In one miracle,supposedly told to Suriano (a
fifteenth-century friar living in the Holy Land) by the Muslim custodian of
Mecca, Mary saves Muslims fromcertainshipwreck:

17"Engranreverença."Cantigas,no. 167,line38. Translation fromSongsofHolyMary,202. On

thisstorysee Remensnyder,"The VirginMaryandConversion," andTrivison,"Prayerand Prejudice
intheCSM."
18Thescholarshipon the rise of Mariandevotionin medievalEuropeis quite extensive. For an
overviewsee WalterDelius, Geschichteder Marienverehrung (Munich,1963); JaroslavPelikan,
Marythrough theCenturies:Her Place in theHistoryofCulture(New Haven,1996); Warner, Alone
ofAllHer Sex.
19
A similarpatternof inevitableconversionor punishment emergesin Muslimaccountsof non-
Muslims'encounters withMuslimsaints,livingor dead, presumably forthe same reason:as an
expressionofthereligioussuperiorityand eventualvictoryof Islam. See Faridal-DinAttar,Muslim
'
Saintsand Mystics:EpisodesfromtheTadhkirat al-Auliya ("MemorialoftheSaints") byFarid al-
Din Attar,trans.A. J. Arberry(Chicago, 1966), 23-5, 53-7, 119, 130, 158-160, 204-5, 274-5, 283-4.
Christopher of theRighteous:Ziyaraand the Veneration
S. Taylor,In the Vicinity of MuslimSaints
inLate MedievalEgypt(Leiden/Boston/Köln, 1999),118-20.
Sometimeswhenparticipating in other"Christian"ritualsMuslimsare interpreted as converting.
See Daniel,Islam and the West,203-7. Daniel notesthatChristianexclamationsof admiration of
Muslims'pietywereoftenintended readers;see, ibid.,195-203.
to goadChristian

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44 Alexandra Cuffel

But he [thecustodian]neverceased to invokeand call on theVirgin

Mary thatshe help and save him. Having fallenasleep, Our Lady,
pious advocateof all thosewho withfaithrecommend themselvesto
her,appeared to him and said to himthatforhis sake all were saved
fromshipwreck.Thenhe cheeredup all thesailorsandtoldthemofthe
visionand how theVirginMaryhad saved themdespitethefactthat
theywereall Muslims.21

The languageof Suriano,thefactthathe carefully signalsthatMarysaved

everyonedespitethefact thattheywere all Muslims,indicatesthatMary's
interventionon behalfof Muslimswas seen as extraordinary. The term"pious
advocateof all" in Suriano's pilgrimage
narrative, and RamonLull's reference
to Luke 1:42 in whichMary's cousinElizabethexclaimsthatMaryis blessed
among women, provide keys to the way Christianswere beginningto
incorporateMuslimMariandevotionintotheirown worldview,as affirmations
of Christianity,
notas information aboutIslam forits own sake. A varietyof
Europeanpilgrims,Surianoamongthem,emphasizedthatall people venerate
her. Affagart (anotherpilgrim)and SurianobothcitedLuke 1:48 "Beholdall
generationsshallcall me blessed"in reactionto seeingMaryvenerated by non-
Christians.Affagart explained:

This is to say "For thatwhichGod has operatedin me,all generations

will come to confessthatI am fortunate and to call on me in their
necessity." We see it for
by experience, not only do Christiansof
whatever nationor sortcometo praiseherand invokeher,butalso the
Jews,Turks,MoorsorArabscall uponher.22

In the same vein, Surianowrote:"she [Mary]casts offno soldiers,usurers,

harlots,blasphemers,nor highwayrobbers,norheretics,nor Jews,nor finally
pagans[probablymeaningMuslimshere]:forall she praysand intercedes with

21"Ma costuide continuonon cessava de invocaree chiamarela VerzeneMaria che li adiutasseet

liberasse.Adoromentandosi li apparvela Madona,piatosaadvocatede tutiquelliche cumfedeal lei
se riconmanda, e dissetichepersuo amoreeranoliberatidal naufragio.Confortò adunqueli marinari
e disse loro la visione,e come la VergeneMaria li havia liberatinon ostanteche tuttifossero
Saraceni."FraFrancescoSuriano,//trattato di TerraSanta e dell'Oriente,
ed. GirolamoGoubovich
(Milan, 1900),chap. XLVI, 101; idem,Treatiseon theHolyLand, trans.TheophilusBelloriniand
EugeneHoade (Jerusalem, 1949),chap.XLVI, 113.
22"Pource que Dieu a opéré en moy, toute générationsviendrontà confesserque je suys
bienheureuse et à me réclameren leurnécessitez.Nous le voyonsparexperience, carnonseulement
les chrestiensde quelquenationoursortequ'ilz soientla viennent à loueret invocquer,maysaussi
Juifs,Turcs,Mores,ou Arabesla réclament."Greffin Affagart,Relationde TerreSainte(1533-34),
éd. J. Chavanon(Paris, 1902), 34. The Latintextof thebiblicalpassage readsas follows:"Ecce
enimex hoc beatammedicentomnesgenerationes."

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 Medieval Tales of Non-Christian Marian Veneration 45

herson."23The prayersof manypeoplesto Mary,includingthoseof Muslims,

were, then,a fulfillment of the prophecywhich Mary made about herself,
namelythatall nationswould turnto her foraid. If Muslimsceased being
Muslims throughconversion,theirvalue as fulfillersof this prophecyand
witnessesto Mary'spowerwouldhavebeennegated.24Thustheirverystatusas
outsiders to Christianity Mariandevotion.
was essentialto thisstrainof Christian
Maryhad gaineda theologicalstandingquiteindependent of Christianambition
to convertMuslims,Jews,orheretical Christians.25
This idea thatMaryinterceded forthosewhomhumanand even heavenly
law wouldnormallycondemnhas itsrootin theexemplatradition surrounding
Mary. Miraclecollectionsaboundwithtalesof Mary's intercession forknown
criminalsand those who have transgressed Christianityin the most severe
fashionimaginable.For example,AlfonsotheWise, Gonzalo de Berceo,and
variousanonymous collectorsof exemplaincludean accountof a thief - thereis
-
no doubtabouthis guilt whomMarysaves fromhangingbecause of his long-
standing devotionto her.26The exemplum ofthepregnant abbesswhobeseeched
theVirginforaid featured in
regularly compilations.27 Perhapsthemoststriking
example is the of
story Theophilus, who, through agencyofa Jew,repudiates
the
JesusandMaryand sells his soul to thedevil,onlyto repentlater,callingon the
Virgin to intercedefor him. The storyis repeatedin numerousMarian

23"Leinonscaza li soldati,nonhomicidiali,nonusuran,nonmeretrice, nonbiastematori, né assassini

non iudei,non finalmente
de strade;non heretici, pagani;per tuttipregaet interpellael suo fiolo."
Suriano,//trattatodi TerraSanta,chap.XLVI, Italian,101,English,114. On Muslimsas pagansin
Christianwritingsee Tolan,Saracens,105-34.
This idea of "otheras witnessto thetruth"has its parallelin EuropeanChristianthoughtin the
argumentation Augustineof Hippo set forthregardingthe Jews,namelythattheyneeded to be
allowed to keep theirreligionbecause theyservedas witnessesto Jesus' fulfillment of ancient
prophecies.On thissee Cohen,Friarsand theJews,19-20.
25SomeChristian writers,includinga fewpilgrimsto theHoly Land suchas Burchardof Mt. Zion,
praiseMuslimdevotionto Marybutsee it as evidencethatMuslimswill be easy to convert.See
Tolan's discussioninSaracens,207-9.
lh ad
Cantigas,no. 13; Gonzalo de Berceo,Milagrosde NuestraSeñora,no. 6; Liber Exemplorum
usum Praedicantiumsaeculo XIII compositusa quodam fratre minoreanglico de provincia
Hibemiae,ed. A. G. Little(Aberdeen,1908),no. 42; Der GrosseSeelentrost:Ein niederdeutsches
Erbauungsbuch des vierzehnten ed. Margarete
Jahrhunderts, Schmitt(Köln, 1959),v. 3, 34; Richard
TerryMount,"The Treatment of theDevoutThiefin Berceoand el Sabio," in EstudiosAlfonsinos y
otrosEscritos,ed. Nicolás Toscano (New York, 1991), 165-71;VeronicaP. Dean-Thacker,"The
DevoutThiefintwo'ExemplosporA. B. C.'" inEstudiosAlfonsinos, 40-5.
11 ad
Cantigas,no. 7; Gonzalo de Berceo,Milagrosde NuestraSeñora,no. 21; Liber Exemplorum
usumPraedicantium, no. 54; JohnofGarland,StellaMaris,no. 1, 93. ComparewithAloysMeister,
"Die Fragmenteder Libri Vili Miraculorumdes Caesarius von Heisterbach,"Römische
furAlterthumskunde
Quartalschrift unfürKirchenschichte,13, Suppl. Heft.(Rome, 1901),no. 35;
Gautierde Coincy,Les miracles,v. 2, 181-96;Etiennede Bourbonne,Anecdoteshistoriques, no.
135; Liberde MiraculisSanctaeiDei GenitriceMariae, ed. BernardPez (Vienna, 1731) reprinted
andeditedT. F. Crane(Ithaca,1925),no. 36, 51-5.

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46 Alexandra Cuffel

collections;however,theversionby Gonzalo de Berceo is particularly

telling.28
Accordingto Gonzalo,Maryis veryreluctantto intercedeon Theophilus'behalf
because:"I wouldbe ashamedto petition
mySon; I wouldnotdareto beginthe
speech."29Insteadshe adviseshimto ask Jesusdirectly.Theophilusprotests
vehemently thathe is:

A bad and dirtyman,falselywitnessed./ He [Jesus]will notwantto

hearme becauseit is notfitting.
/Mother,I fearso muchthatI willbe
/ourplea willbe verymuchdamaged.//If it is to turnout
repudiated;
well,or you wantto helpme./You mustworkon thismatter, Mother/
Do notorderme to searchforanother
intercessor,/sinceno matterhow
muchI maysearchI willnotfindone.30

Marywas thusthe intercessor of last resort.Partof herglorification

in these
talesis thatshe is capableandwillingto rescueevencriminalsandblasphemers.
Thatshe likewiseaidedMuslimsandJewswas simplyan extension ofthistrope,
one in whichSuriano,andotherslikehim,reveledin theirpilgrimage narratives.

Mary as Universal Intercessor in the Western Christian

exegetical tradition

Priorto thefourteenthcentury,Christian
exegeteswho remainedin Europedid
notinterpretthispassage fromLuke 1:42 or 48 "blessedare you amongwomen
andblessedis thefruitof yourwomb"or "all generations shallcall me blessed"
to meanthatMarywouldattract thedevotionofnon-Christians, or evensinners.
Individualssuch as ThomasAquinas,Bernardof Clairvaux,Bonaventure, and
Joachimof Fiore did suggestthatthe passages referto the "conversionof
nations,"meaningthose"nations"not biologicallydescendedfromthe Jews.
They drewa parallelbetweentheseversesin Luke and God's promiseto the
patriarchAbrahamthathis seed wouldbe greatlymultiplied and manynations

28Forotherversionsof thisstorysee Gautierde Coincy,Miracles,v. 1, 136ff;Cantigas,no. 3; "El

librode los Exemplos,"in Bibliotecade autoresespañoles,no. 192; Liber Exemplorum ad usum
Praedicantium,no. 47; Recullde eximplise miracles,gestesetfaules e altresligendesordenadesper
A. B. C. tretesde un manuscriten pergamide començament del segle XV, ed. A. Verdaguer
(Barcelona,1881),no. 408.
29"Yovergüenzaavría al mi Fijo rogar,non sería osada la razón empezar,"Gonzalo de Berceo,
Milagrosde NuestraSeñora,milagro24, stanza780, trans.Mountand Cash,MiraclesofOurLady.
30"Amal omnee sucioe mal testimoniado /nonme querráoír,ca nones aguisado;/Madre,tantolo
temoiríarepoyado,/ fíncariénuestropleitomuchoempeorado.//Si bien á de seer o me quieres
/túas en estepleito,Madre,a travajar;
prestar, /otroprocurador nonme mandesbuscar,/ca porque
lo buscasse,nonpodríatrovar."Ibid.,stanzas796-797.

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 Medieval Tales of Non-Christian Marian Veneration 47

would be blessed by his descendants.31Accordingto theseChristianbiblical

commentators God's promisesto Abrahamand the propheciesabout and by
Maryalludedto theinclusionof non-Jewsas thepeopleof God becauseof their
faithin Jesus.32 Thus these verses fromLuke did promisea universal
redemption and devotion,but the prophecywas an assurancethatall nations
wouldhave theopportunity to becomeChristian.Such an approachalliedthese
exegetesmuch more closely with the exemplacirculatingin Europe which
positedthatanyhappyencounter betweentheVirginand thieves,blasphemers,
Jews,or Muslimsendedin conversion, whetherfrombeinga "bad" Christian
to
a "good" Christian,
or frombeingnon-Christian to Christian.Theywereto be
giventheirchance,even as, long ago, thepagan nationshad been giventhen-
chanceto acceptMaryand her Son. Marywas thusthefocusof mainstream
devotionand the vehicle for integrating marginalmembersof European
- namely undesirablesand non-Christiansliving under
Christian society
rule- intothatmainstream.
Christian
Nicholasof Lyra(1270-1349),knownforhis studyof Hebrewand interest
in Jewishbiblical exegesis, shiftedhis interpretationof the "prophecies"
regardingMary so thatMuslims areclearlyincluded:

Behold, for this all generationswill call me blessed- Jews with

Gentiles. Out of all generationscertainare convertedto the faith
granted to thatblessedvirgin.Thisis evenmaintainedamongSaracens
in theQur'an of Muhammad,it is said of theVirginMarytheangels
said: "O Maria God is announcedto you by word,out of thatand his
name will be Jesusson of Mary." And elsewherein thisbook the
angelssaid,"O Maria,God,he electedyou andpurified youand chose
youclearly over thewomen of theage." And much else is said therein
praise ofthe Virgin.33

31Gen.12:2-3"I will bless and magnify yourname,I willbless thosewhobless you,and thenations
oftheworldwillbe blessedbyyourissue."
ThomasAquinas,CanteríaAurea: Commentary on theFour GospelsCollectedoutoftheFathers,
v. 3, pt. 1, trans,and ed. JohnHenryParker(Oxford,1863), loc. cit. or 37-41,43-4; Bernardof
Clairvaux,In laudibusvirginismatris,homilyno. 3, especiallyparagraphs5-7 in Bernardvon
Claivaux,SämtlicheWerkelateinisch/deutsch, ed. GerhardB. Winkler(Innsbruck, 1993) v. 4, 82/83-
88/89(theentirehomilyis on 76/77-98/99); Bonaventure, Commentarius inEvangelium S. Lucam,in
Opera Omnia,7 vols.,ed. Aloysii(Parma,1895),v. 1,78; idem,Commentary on theGospelofLuke,
ed. RobertJ.Karris,in WorksofSt. Bonaventure, 8 vols.,part1 (St. Bonaventura,2001), v. 1, 78;
Joachim ofFiore,Tractatus superquatorevangelio,ed. ErnestoBuonaiuti(Rome,1930),40-52. My
thanksto Professor David Burrof VirginiaPolytechnic Institute
and StateUniversity who heardan
earlierversionofthisarticleandalertedme to thepotential discrepancy betweentheinterpretation of
theseversesbyChristian commentators in Europeandthatbypilgrimsin theHolyLand.
33"Ecce enim ex hoc beatam me dicuntomnes generationi - iudei et gentiles. Ex omnibus
generationibus aliquisuntconversiad fidemquernconfitentur istamvirginem beatamhoc etiampatet

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48 Alexandra Cuffel

In thefirstsentenceNicholasbrieflyalludesto theearlierexegeticaltradition
whenhe mentionstheconversion of theJewsand Gentiles.His positionon the
Muslimsis ambiguousin thispassage. Nicholas,likeRamonLull beforehim,
was aware of Muslimbeliefsabout Mary,thoughin contrastto Lull, he is
unreservedly delightedby thepraisethattheQur'an allotsto Mary. He makes
no explicitstatementof expectationthattheMuslimswouldconvert, and in this
wayis muchcloserto thepositionexpressedbythelatemedievalpilgrims to the
HolyLand and Egypt.Yet Nicholasimpliedsucha conversion whenhe drewa
parallel between the Muslims' admirationof the Virgin and earlier
of theLucanpassagewhichconnectedit to theconversion
interpretations of the
non-Jewish nations. Hence, while European pilgrims'praise of Mary as
intercessorand object of devotionforthe Muslimswas relatedto trendsof
Mariandevotionin Europe,it was also a sharpdeparture forit allowed,even
required,thatMuslims,and,as we shallsee, Jews,retaintheirstatusas outsiders
to Christianity.
Nicholasshouldbe seen as an intermediary figure,forwhilehe
himselfis ambiguousregarding theultimategoal of Muslims'favorableattitude
towardsMary,he influencedlaterpilgrimswho did not anticipateMuslims'
conversion.34
Philippede Mézières(1327-1405),thechancellorof Cyprusand long-time
crusaderand advocate of crusading,took a different, albeit related,tack.
Philippe was very much involved with the effortto unitethe Latinand Greek
Churchesduringthefourteenth century. Out of devotion
to Maryandperhapsas
a diplomaticoverture,he soughtto establishthefeastof Mary'spresentation at
theTemple,whichwas a majorfestivalin theOrthodoxChurch,as partof the
Latincalendar.35RatherthanLuke 1:42 or48, Philippefocusedon thefirsthalf
of Matthew24:27- "For as lightening comesfromtheeast and shinesas faras
thewest [so will be thecomingof theSon of Man]." For him,thelightening
fromtheeastwas thelightoftheVirginMarycomingfromtheGreekChurchto

in Saracenisusi in alchoranoMachometidiciturde Maria Virginedixerunt angeli. O Maria,deus

annunciaitibiverbumex ipso et eritnomineeius Iesus filisMarie. Et alibi in eodemlibrodixerunt
angeli. O Mariadeus utiqueelegitte et purificavitte et elegitte claramsupermulieresseculorumet
multaalia ibi dicunturad laudemvirginis."Nicolausde Lyra,SuperLucamin Postillasupertotam
Bibliam,v. 4 (Strasbourg1492; Frankfurt am Main, 1971) loe. cit.paragraph q. Regarding Nicholas
of Lyra'sattitudetowardandknowledgeofIslamsee David Burr,"Antichrist and Islamin Medieval
FranciscanExegesis,"inMedievalChristian Perceptions ofIslam:A BookofEssays,ed. JohnVictor
Tolan (New York/London, 1996), 131-52,and PhilipKrey,"NicholasofLyraandPaul ofBurgoson
Islam,"inMedievalChristian Perceptions ofIslam,153-74.
34Inone editionof //trattatodi TerraSanta SurianoquotesNicholas of Lyra's summaryof the
Qur'anicpositionon Maryto explainand glorify Muslims'devotionto Mary. Suriano,//trattato di
TerraSanta, chap. XLI, see notea: Italian94-5, English,106-7. The reference is to Nicholasof
Lyra'scommentary on Isaiah 13,notLuke,although thesentiment is thesame.
See theintroduction to Philippede Mézières,Campaignfor theFeast ofMary'sPresentation, ed.
WilliamE. Coleman(Toronto,1981), 1-10.

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 Medieval Tales of Non-Christian Marian Veneration 49

the west; thebiblicalverseprovedthatthe WesternChurchwas supposedto

accept the feastof Mary's presentationand devotionalpracticessurrounding
Mary fromthe EasternChurch.36Philippe,then,like his co-religionists in
Europe,saw Maryas theconduitforbreachingbarriersof custom,habit,and
religion,in thiscase betweenOrthodoxand CatholicChristians.Inherentin his
sermons,letters,and meditativepieces about Mary and the feast of her
presentation, however,is the idea that Catholic devotees of Mary could
legitimately take cues fromthe so-called outsider. In this way Philippe's
positionwas much closer to thatof the pilgrimswho accordeda place for
Muslimadmirers oftheVirgin.

The Virgin Mary: Bridge between Faiths or Polemical Trope?

Was venerationof Mary amongMuslimsand Christiansenoughto createa

bridgebetweenthetwo faithswhichcounteracted otherdoctrinaldifferences?
Certainly Muslims and Christians performed manyof the same ritualswith
identicalexpectations of Mary. BothChristianand Muslimwomentraveledto
milk grottosto drinkthe white,pulverizeddust as a cure for barrenness,
in childbirth,
difficulties and nursing.37 Of all theplaces associatedwithMary,
theMatariyah, one of thelocationsat whichtheholyfamilysupposedlystopped
and stayedduringtheirflightto EgyptfromHerod,receivedthemostattention.
BathingthereduringEasterweek was particularly popular;however,Muslim
and Christianpilgrimscame to it at all timesof theyear.38Partof the site's
holiness for both Christiansand Muslims derived fromJesus' presence;
however,thetextsclearlyindicatethattheplace was primarily linkedto Mary.
In AnselmeAdorno's account,all membersof the holy familywere at the
Matariyah,but he especiallyremarksthatMary frequently used the waters
FelixFabribarelymentioned
there.39 Jesuswhenspeakingofthewondersof the
Matariyah;ratherhe remarked upon it as a site of bothChristianand Muslim
veneration of Mary:"Christians and Muslimsveneratethistreeand thefountain

36Ibid.,26-31, 42-3 ["Sermo de presentatione Marie in templo,"paragraphs1-7; "Epistola de

solemnitate Beate Mariein tempioet novitateipsiusad partesoccidentals,"
Presentationis paragraph
3].
37Affagart,Relationde TerreSainte,136-7;Suriano,//trattato di TerraSanta,chap.LXVI, Italian,
124,English,137; AnselmeAdorno,Itinéraire d'AnselmeAdornoen TerreSainte(1470-71),éd. and
trans.JacquesHeers and Georgettede Groer(Paris, 1978), 288-9. On Mary's milkas a cure for
illnessessee BenedictaWard,Miraclesand theMedievalMind,Theory, Record,and Event,1000-
7275 (Philadelphia,1987), 138.
38Fora descriptionof mutualChristian and Muslimcelebrations at thepool duringEasterweek (in
thiscase Palm Sunday)see MuhammadibnMuhammadibnal-Hajj al-'Abdari,Al-Madkhal, 4 vols,
in2 (Cairo,1929),v. 2, 59-60.
39Adorno, Itinéraire,192/193-194/195.

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50 Alexandra Cuffel

in honorof theverysaintlyVirginMary."40SymonSemeonisnotonlynoted
reveredthe
withapprovalthatMuslims,Catholics,and "schismatic"Christians
place and its but
patroness, uponMary'swillingness appearto and
remarked to
heal all comers:

This fountainis surrounded on all sides by a wall, withinwhichare

pleasantoratoriesin whichusuallyeverysabbaththewesternChristian
pilgrims,the Jacobitesand all the otherschismaticstouchedupon
and sometimes
previously, theSaracens,devoutlyholdingvigil,all the
timeoccupythemselves in thepraisesof thegloriousVirgin,and they
wash and bathe themselvesand theirsick beside thisfountainin a
convenientplace setaside forthatpurpose.Theremanyprotections are
grantedby the meritsof the Virgin;sometimesshe even appearing
personallyto the Saracens,as the guardstoldme on oath,who with
theirown eyes saw hernumberless timeswalkingaroundthefountain
to whombe thegloryandhonor,worldwithout end. Amen.41

Thiskindofinterfaith andbathingwas likewisediscussedbyMuslim

pilgrimage
authorswho did indeedsee suchbehavioras blurringtheboundariesbetween
Muslimand non-Muslim.Ibn al-Hajj notedthepracticeofMuslimsandvarious
comingfromgreatdistancesto bathein thewaterduringfestivalsand
Christians
complainedof scandalousdeeds, whichincludedMuslimwomenbeing seen

40"Hancarboremsicutet fontemvenerantur simulChristianiet Sarraceniob beatissimaeVirginis

Mariae." FratrisFelicisFabri,Evagatorium in TerraeiSantae,ArabiaeetEgyptiperegrinationem, 3
vols.,ed. CunradusDietericusHassler(Stuttgart, 1849),pt.2, v. 3, f. 75b, 5. Thereis also a partial
Frenchtranslation: Voyageen Egyptede Felix Fabri 1483, 3 vols, trans.JacquesMasson (Cairo
1975),v. 1, 371. The treeofwhichhe speaksis a figtree,which,accordingto legend,openedup its
trunkand allowedMaryto sittherewhenshe neededshelter.The treealso lowereditsbranchesto
allowMaryto reachitsfruit.
41"Ipseenim fons est muroundique circumdatusinfraquem sunt oratoriahonesta,in quibus
communiter omni sabato Christianiperegrinioccidentales,Jacobiteet alii scismatici,de quibus
pretactum est,et quandoqueSaraceni,vigiliasdevotefacienteslaudibusglorioseVirginiscontinue
insistunt,et se et eoruminfirmos juxtaipsumfontem lavantetbalneantin loco convenienti et ad hoc
deputato.Ubi multapresidiameritis ipsiusVirginisipsisinfìrmis, etiamipsa quandoquepersonaliter
Saracenisapparente, sicudnobisjuraverunt
prestantur, predicticustodes,qui earncircaipsumfontem
infinitiesdeambulantem oculis propriisaspexerunt;cui est honoret gloria in sécula seculorum,
amen." SymonSemeonis,Itinerarium SymonisSemeonisab Hybemiaad TerramSanetarn,ed.
Mario Esposito,ScriptoresLatiniHiberniae,v. 4 (Dublin, 1960), 80/81-82/83.Also translated in
SymonSemeonis,Western Pilgrims:TheItinerariesof Fr. SimonFitzsimons(1322-23) a Certain
Englishman (1344-45), Thomas Brugg (1392), trans. Eugene Hoade (Jerusalem, 1970 reprint),31.
The English translationgiven here is my own, and does not follow exactly that of Esposito or of
Hoade, thoughboth were consulted.

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 Medieval Tales of Non-Christian Marian Veneration 51

nakedby dhimmi(people of thebook subjectto Muslimrule)women.42Such

practicesviolatedthehonorof Islam. Furthermore, whileIbn al-Hajj admitted
the possibilitythatMuslims' bathingin the pool mightbe legallyneutralin
general,to use thepool withtheChristians duringa Christian festivalwas not,
presumably becausesucha practiceviolatedthedistinction betweenMuslimand
dhimmi,those with religious and political power, and those who were
subordinate.43 ThoseMuslimsand Christians whoparticipated, however,clearly
did notacceptthenegativeview of Ibn al-Hajj and similarcommentators, and
were quite undisturbed by customswhich temporarily obliteratedobvious
markers ofdifferencebetweenfaiths.
ThatChristianauthorsfrequently referto information whichtheyobtained
orallyfromMuslims,suggeststhatChristiansat least saw Muslimsas reliable
sourcesof information abouttheVirginMary'spowersand activities.Symon
Semeonis,in the passage above, indicatesthathe interviewed Muslimswho
came to the Matariyah. In describingthe location,behavior,and beliefs
surrounding a milkgrotto,Affagart citestheauthority of Turksand Moors as
Surianolikewisesaysthathe is quotingMuslimwomen
well as of Christians.44
whotoldhimthatifa womaneatsbreadbakedat one ofthecaves holyto Mary,
the womanwill feel no pain in childbirth, and thatsuch breadwas regularly
bakedand distributed by Muslim women.45 SpanishChristians also sometimes
accepted and delightedin Muslim tales of Mary's miraculous powers. In the
Cantigas de Santa Maria a of
group invading Muslims placed some of theirloot
at thealtarof theVirginMary,out of thereverenceall Muslimshold forher.
One of theMuslimsattempted to stealtheseofferings and was transfixed until
his companionstookthestolengoods from his frozenarms and restored them to
thealtar. "The miraclewas made knownfromhereto Suz, and the Christians

42Ibnal-Hajj,Al-Madkhal, v. 2, 59-60. Taylor,In theVicinityoftheRighteous, 58, 76-7,224. Taylor

emphasizesIbn al-Hajj's objectionsto thefreemixingof menand womenat gravesites, thoughhe
does note the presenceof dhimmias a factorforIbn al-Hajj (224). Also see his discussionof
i/A/wwi-Muslim tensionsduringthecrusades,118. On bothChristian and Jewishdhimmi generally,
see MarkCohen,UnderCrescentand Cross: TheJewsin theMiddleAges(Princeton, 1994).
4JIbnal-Hajj, ibid.. Ibn Taymiyyarailed againstMuslim participation in Christianand Jewish
festivalsand veneration ofJewishand Christian holygraves,forpreciselythesamereason. Ahmad
ibn ' Abd al-HalimibnTaymiyah, Kitabiqtida' al-siratal-mustaqim mukhalafat ashab al-jahim,ed.
MuhammadHamid al-Fiqi (Cairo, 1979), 207-15, 227. Englishtranslation: MuhammadUmar
Memon,Ibn Taimiya's StruggleagainstPopular Religionwithan AnnotatedTranslationof His
Kitab iqtida' as-siratal-mustaqim mukhalafat ashab al-jahim(Paris, 1976), 206-13,222; JosefW.
Meri,"The EtiquetteofDevotionin theIslamicCultof theSaints,"in TheCultoftheSaintsin Late
Antiquity and the MiddleAges: Essays on the Contribution of Peter Brown,ed. JamesHoward
Johnston and Paul AntonyHayward(Oxford,1999), 263-86; Boaz Shoshan,Popular Culturein
MedievalCairo (Cambridge,1993),67-9;Taylor,In theVicinity oftheRighteous,168-94,especially
177-8,184-5. Notall Muslimsdisapproved so vehemently, see Taylor,195-226.
44Affagart,Relationde TerreSainte,105-6.
45Suriano, di TerraSanta,chap.LXVI, Italian,124,English,137.
//trattato

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52 Alexandra Cuffel

learned of it fromthe Moors."46 This willingness on the part of Christiansto

accept Muslim testimonyabout holy places, rituals,and miracles,plus accounts
of Muslims and Christiansparticipatingin such ritualstogetheron a large scale,
suggest thatdevotionto the Virgin served as a point at which opposing religious
communities could become one, albeit temporarily. Common beliefs,
expectations, and practices surrounding the Virgin Mary seem to have
transcended the religious differences and hostilities between Muslims and
various Christian groups to the extent that both were willing to accept one
another's informationabout sacred figuresand to join in mutual celebrationsof
them.
Yet carefulexaminationof the rhetoricof both Christianand Muslim writers
belies thisvision of religiousharmony. While all Muslims did not accept Ibn al-
Hajj's position regardingMuslim travelto Christianholy sites and involvement
in Christian celebrations, his protests indicate that some Muslims rejected
interfaithmingling.47 According to the twelfth-century Muslim pilgrim, Ibn
Jubayr,Muslims had not been willing to "share" the church in Damascus
dedicated to Mary afterthe city's conquest, and when Christiansrefusedto cede
the churchto themvoluntarily,the caliph Al-Walid ibn ' Abd al-Malik took it by
force. Ibn Jubayrpointed to the powerlessness and wrongnessof the Christian
faithin the narrativeby describingthe Christians' unfulfilledthreatsof divine
vengeance against the caliph.48 Anecdotal evidence hints that Muslim
participants(as opposed to theologians who observed the phenomenon) did not
always view such shared devotion as positive. Suriano reportedthat Muslim
women "take it badly thatwe call her mother,saying thatwe are unworthyof so
great a queen, and that she belonged to them; the Christianswere wrong in
usurpingher."49 If Suriano's descriptionof Muslim attitudesis to be trusted,
Muslim women did not particularlywelcome sharingtheirsaint withChristians.
Saying that Christians were "unworthyof so great a queen" was a way for
Muslims to reestablishverbally the Muslim superiorityover Christian in the
Muslim-dhimmi relationship,even as Ibn al-Hajj had tried to preserve this
hierarchyby forbiddingsharedcelebrationsat all.

46"Eo miragresabudo| foiben daqui ata Suz //e dos mourosos crischäos| o ouveronde saber."
Cantigas,no. 329,lines77-8;trans,fromSongsofHolyMary,401.
47Foran exampleof a Muslimpilgrimwho advocatedsuchpracticessee Ibn Battuta,Voyagesd'lbn
Battuta,4 vols.,ed. and trans.E. Defrémery and B. R. Sanuinetti(Paris, 1982),v. 1, 120; Taylor,
VincinityoftheRighteous,168-194. Also see Boaz Shoshan'sdiscussionof thefestivalofNawruz:
Popular Culturein MedievalCairo,40-51. He emphasizesauthorities' objectionsto theChristian-
Muslimfestivalbasedon itsthreat to socialorderandgenderdefinitions.
48Muhammad ibnAhmadibnJubayr, RisalatIbnJubayr(Beirut,1924),235-6; idem,The Travelsof
IbnJubayr, trans.R. J.C. Broadhurst (London,1952),272-3.
49"Hanomoltoper male che nui la chiamamomadrenostra,dicendoche semo indegnide tanta
regina,e che lei, esendola loro,a tortose la ursurpano li Christiani."Suriano,//trattatodi Terra
Santa,chap.XLVI, Italian,101,English,114.

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 Medieval Tales of Non-Christian Marian Veneration 53

Even theChristians who reveledin Muslimacceptanceof Marywereeager

to affirm theirownreligiousdistinctness and superiority
throughMary'sagency.
The exaltationof Mary by Muslims and schismaticChristiansadded to the
Virgin'sglorification in SymonSemeonis' account,yet Muslimsand Eastern
Christiansare demarcatedas separategroups in the passage despite their
intermingling withCatholics. Otherwisetheywouldhavehad no importance in
thenarrative.In thefollowingparagraphSymonrecountsthatthetreenearthe
Materiyahwhichproducedhealingbalsam producedmorewhen trimmedby
Christians."For this reasonthey[the custodians]hirebelieversin Jesusto
performthis operation,and not circumcisedand unclean Mahometans."50
Though Symon claims that he obtainedhis information fromthe Muslim
caretakers, theadjectivesin thispassage thatdescribeMuslimsand thefactthat
Christians obtainthebestresultsfromthisholytreeindicateSymon's hostility
towardMuslims and assert Christianity's preeminenceover Islam despite
Islam's dominancein theregion.Surianoand another Felix Fabri,tella
pilgrim,
ratherdark tale of the Virgin's dealingswiththe Muslim custodianof her
grave.51She appearsto thecustodianand announcesthatshe is his enemyeither
becausehe deniesChristians access to thetomb,or becausehe chargesthemfor
it,depending on theversionof thestory.The custodianis to die forhis deed as
will his sons if theydo notmendtheirways. As a result,the sons invitethe
friarsofMt. Zion to celebratein thechurchoverMary'sgrave. "And in signof
perpetual subjugation they[thecustodian'ssons]bringeveryyearto thefriars. . .
thefirstfruits of theirgarden,.."52 In onlyone versionis thecustodianhimself
giventhe opportunity to repent,and thenonly if he and his descendentswill
standat thedoorcrying"come,adoreGod andpraiseMary."53
These storiesby Surianoand Fabridemonstrate Mary'sabilityto intercede
on behalfoftheChristians andto compeltheMuslimsto "subjugate"themselves
to the desiresand needs of the Christiancommunity.Mary's patronageof
Christianity (as opposed to Islam, thoughthis is not made explicit)is made
manifestand theMuslimsare forcedto bear witnessto thisstateof affairsby

50"Ethinc est quod ad ipsas fimdendassimiliterJesuitanos(Christianos)conducuntet non

Machometistas circumcisos et immundos."Semeonis,Itinerarium, ed. Esposito.
51InMuslimlands,Muslimsgenerallycontrolledaccess to holysites,especiallysiteswhichwere
held to be sacred to Muslimsas well as to Christiansor Jews. Taylor,In the Vicinity of the
Righteous,56-7; L. Massignon,"Documentssur certainswaqfs des lieux saints de l'Islam
principalementsurle waqfTamimià Hebronet surle waqftlemcénien Abu Madyanà Jérusalem,"
Revuedes ÉtudesIslamiques(1951): 73-120;S. D. Goitein,"The Sanctity ofJerusalem and Palestine
inEarlyIslam,"inStudiesinIslamicHistoryand Institutions (Leiden,1966), 135-48.
"Et in signode perpetuasubiectione,de li fructi
che nascononel giardinoche è sopradella Giesia
de la Madona,avantiche loro ne mangiano,portanoli primitii a li Fratri,cum altripresenti,ogni
anno." Suriano,//trattatodi TerraSanta,chap.XLVI, Italian,100,English,113.
Vade, et Deum adora,et virginem Mariamlauda,"Fabri,Evagatorium, pt. 1, f. 143a, 373. The
storycontinueson to folio143b.

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54 Alexandra Cuffel

tellingthestoryof thevisionto Christian comers.Thus,whileMuslimsneeded

to remainMuslimsto fulfilltheprophecyin Luke 1:48,nevertheless theywere
nottobe granted equal standing in
withtheChristians theirrelationshipto Mary.
In theperiodfollowingthemain thrustandfailureof theChristiancrusading
efforts, a storysuch as the one told by Fabri and Surianowould have been
particularly important as a way of assertingChristianity'sspiritualsuperiority
over Islam, even whenmilitaryproofof God's favorwas scarce. In Iberia,
whereefforts to expel the Muslimsmet withmoresuccess thanin the Holy
Land, the majorityof Spanish exemplaportraythe defeator conversionof
Muslimsas a matterof course. In a fewinstancesin Cantigasde Santa Maria
Muslimsretaintheirownreligionat thesametimethattheirdevotionto Maryis
recognizedand underscored as a sourceof wonder.54One of theseis cantiga
329, summarized earlier,in whicha Muslimattempts to stealrichesthathis co-
religionistsplaced on an altarof Mary.55Like thosetoldby Christian travelers
to theHolyLand,thistaledemonstrates Mary'sabilityto forceMuslimsto obey
her, and furthermore, Muslims,even conqueringMuslims,are drawn into
Christianspace to offertokensof theirsubmissionto Mary, who, to the
Christianauthor,is ultimately a Christianprotectress.The Muslim military
victory was thusovershadowed of the spiritualpowerthat
by a reaffirmation
Mary and Christianholyspaces held overMuslims.56 Christianstoleratedand
even rejoicedin Muslims' devotiontowardMary,but only in so faras the
boundariesof spiritualhierarchycould be maintained. Even in the most
"ecumenical"of tales,the adversarialrelationship betweenmedievalMuslims
andChristians was alwayslurking inthebackground.
In manywaysthesharedMuslim-Christian devotiondepictedin thesetales
was not unique to Mary. Otherbiblical and Qur'anic figures,such as the

"Cantigas,nos. 165,169, 185,215, 329.

55TheoffendingMuslim does not seem to convertto Christianity; the narrativeis somewhat
ambiguouson thispoint. The Muslimthiefis black,indicating his evil naturein contrastto thatof
his co-religionists.On blacknessas a markerof hierarchy amongMuslimsin the Cantigassee
Rafael Ocasio, "EthnicUnderclassRepresentation in the Cantigas:The Black Moro as a Hated
Character,"in EstudiosAlfonsinos,ed. Toscano, 183-8. For thesignificance attributedto blackness
in ChristianEuropegenerally, see The Image of theBlack in Western Art,v. 2, ed. JeanDevisse,
trans.WilliamGrangerRyan(Cambridge/London, 1979);ThomasHahn,"The Difference theMiddle
Ages Makes: Race beforetheModernWorld,"JournalofMedievaland EarlyModernStudies31:1
(2001): 1-37; DorothyHooglandVerkerk,"Black Servant,Black Demon: Color Ideologyin the
AshburnPentateuch,"ibid., 57-77; William ChesterJordan,"The Medieval Background,"in
Strugglesin thePromisedLand: Towardsa HistoryofBlack-Jewish Relationsin theUnitedStates,
ed. JackSalzmanand CornelWest (New York, 1997), 53-64; RuthMellinkoff, Outcasts,2 vols.
(Berkeley,1993),v. 1, 122-30.
ComparewithCantigas,nos. 95, 165, 169, 185, 215. All of theseportray Muslims'respectfor
Maryor herabilityto enforceobediencein a military context.Cantiga169 specifically designates
Maryas the futureconquerorof the restof Spain and Morocco,thusmakingher the sponsorof
IberianChristiancrusadingefforts.

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 Medieval Tales of Non-Christian Marian Veneration 55

patriarchAbraham,likewiseattracted Muslim,Christian,and Jewishveneration

and cross-faith in
participation pilgrimageand rituals.57Figureswho werenot
partof thecommonscriptural traditionalso sometimesattractedthedevotionof
individualsoutsidethe faith. For example,Christianpilgrimscomplainedof
otherChristianswho had been led astrayto reveretheProphetMuhammadas a
saintand who soughtto visithis tomb.58JewishpilgrimsdescribedMuslims
who visitedthe tombsof Talmudicrabbis.59Yet of all of these Mary was
accordeda veryspecialposition.EuropeanChristianauthorselaboratedon the
sharedMuslimveneration of theVirginMaryto createa veryspecial Marian
theologyin accordancewiththe needs of her risingcult in Europe,placing
interfaith
devotionin thecontextof a new interpretation of Luke 1:48. While
theseChristiantales reflecteda real phenomenonin the Near East, Christian
rhetoricandpietyshapedthemeaningsthatthisphenomenon tookin theeyes of
theirco-religionists,
even as Muslimtheologiansprotestedand interpreted the
phenomenon accordingto theirown, verydifferent objectives. The degreeto
whicha Christian and
exegetical polemicalagendaguided Christiandescriptions
ofMuslimreverence ofMaryis madeclearbytheso-calledJewish"veneration"
ofMarywhichappearsas a parallelthemeto Muslimdevotionin Christian texts.

"instancesof thisphenomenon are numerousfromsourcesfromall threefaiths.See, forexample:

Moshe Basulah, "Mas'a de R. Moshe Basula (1521-23)" in Masa 'oí 'EretzIsra'el shel 'Olim
Yehudimmi-yamei ha-benaimve-'od ra 'shityameishivatTzion,ed. AbrahamYa'ari (RamatGan,
Israel, 1976), 146-7; Meshullamda Volterà,Mas'a Meshullammi-Volterabe- 'EretzIsra'el be
shanatrama (1481), ed. AbrahamYa'ari (Jerusalem, 1948),68-9; IbnTaymiyya, Kitab,Arabic441,
Englishtranslation, 320; Ibn Battuta,Voyages,v. 1, 232; Adomo, Itinéraire,249-51; Affagart,
Relationde TerreSainte,138; Bertrand de la Brocquière,Le Voyaged'Outremerde Bertrandon de
la Broquièrepremierécuyertranchant et caonseillerde Philippele Bon, Duc de Bourgongne,éd.
Ch. Schefer(Farnborough, 1972), 16-18;Fabri,Evagatorium, pt.2, v. 2, ff.8a-10a,348-54;Goitein,
"The Sanctity ofJerusalem and Palestinein EarlyIslam";Massignon,"Documentssurcertainswaqfs
des lieux saintsde l'Islam"; JosefW. Meri,"Aspectsof Baraka (Blessings)and RitualDevotion
amongMedievalMuslimsand Jews,"MedievalEncounters:Jewish,Christianand MuslimCulture
in Confluenceand Dialogue, 5 (1999): 46-69; JohnWilkinson,"Visitsto JewishTombs by Early
Christians,"in Aktendes XII Internationalen Kongressesfiir christlicheArchäologie,part l
(Münster,1995), 452-65. IssacharBen-Ami discussesthissortof cross-veneration in a modern
context:Issachar Ben-Ami,"Folk-Veneration of Saints among the Moroccan Jews: Tradition,
Continuity and Change,theCase of theHoly Man, Rabbi David u-Moshe,"in Studiesin Judaism
and Islam Presentedto ShelomoDov Goiteinon the Occasion of his EightiethBirthdayby His
Students,Colleaguesand Friends,ed. Shelomo Morag,IssacharBen-Ami,and NormanStillman
(Jerusalem, 1981),283-344;idem,"Le Cultedes saintschez les Juifset les Musulmansau Maroc,"
Les Relationsentrejuifs et musulmansen Afriquedu NordXIXe-XXesiècles; actes du colloque
international de l'institutd'histoiredespays d'outre-mer Octobre1978 (Paris,1980), 104-9.
58Fabri, Evagatorium, pt. 2, v. 2, f. 72b, 540; Frenchtranslation, v. 1, 353. Kedar,Crusade and
Mission,103. Kedarrefers specificallyto SpanishChristians.
59"Itineraryof R. Simonb. Samsonin 1210,"inJewishTravellersin theMiddleAges: 19 Firsthand
Accounts,ed. ElkanNathanAdler(New York,1987), 107, 109; anonymous accountof 1495 in Ha-
Mas 'a li-'EretzIsra 'el,6 1; MosheBasulah,in Masa 'ot 'EretzIsra 'el,ed. Ya'ari, 141-2.

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56 Alexandra Cuffel

Jewish Devotion to the Virgin Mary in the Christian

Imagination West and East

UnlikeMuslims,Jewshad no cause to revereMary. She does notappearin any

of the Jewishscriptures, and in medievalextra-biblical when she is
writings,
mentioned at all sheis eithera patheticfigure,
raped, and
misled, doomed to give
birthto a falsemessiah,ora promiscuous woman,whoseevilhabitsnaturally led
to thebirthofa morallydefective son whodeceivedthepeopleof Israeland the
nations.60We knowthatby theTalmudtrialof ParisChristians wereawareof
thebasic detailsof thisJewishanti-Christian Nevertheless,
polemic.61 Christian
authorsdepictedJewsas seekingheraid,formuchthesamereasonsas theyhad
depictedMuslims - as an expressionof Christianreligioussuperiorityand to
fulfillthe prophecythatall generationsshall call Mary blessed. In some
instancesJewsdo so as a resultof dire peril. Accordingto one European
exemplum a Jewrobbedand trappedintowitnessing demonicrites,calls upon
theVirginforrescue. She obliges,andthegrateful Jewconverts.62Similarly,in
the Cantigas, a Jewishwoman condemnedto death for miscegenation
(intercourse witha non-Jew)pleadswiththeVirginas she is beingcast froma
cliff.Miraculouslysaved,theyoungwomanalso converts.63 These tales very

^See references abovein footnote 1.

61Robert Chazan,"The Condemnation of theTalmudReconsidered(1239-1248)," Proceedingsof
the AmericanAcademyof JewishResearch 55 (1989): 11-30; idem,"FromFriarPaul to Friar
Raymond:The Developmentof InnovativeMissionizingArgumentation," Harvard Theological
Review76 (1983): 289-306; SolomonGrayzel,The Churchand theJewsin thexiiithCentury:A
StudyoftheirRelationsduringtheYears1198-1254,Based on thePapal Lettersand theConciliar
Decrees of thePeriod (Philadelphia,1933), no. 119, 274-80; Jordan,"MarianDevotionand the
TalmudTrialof 1240"; IsidoreLoeb, "La Controverse de 1240 sur le Talmud,"Revue des études
juives, 1 (1880): 247-70,and 3 (1881):'39-57;Merchaviah, Ha-Talmudbe rei ha-Natzrut: ha-yahas
lesafrutyisra'el shel ahar ha-mikra be-'olam ha- notzribe yemai ha-baynayyim [500-1248]
(Jerusalem, 1970),291-315,328-30,347-8,446-8; JudahM. Rosenthal,"The Talmudon Trial,the
Disputation Parisin theYear 1240,"JewishQuarterly
of Review47 (1956-57): 58-76,145-69;
62JohnMirks,Festial, ed. T. Erbe, Early EnglishTexts Society,extra series (1905), no. 57;
CatalogueofRomancesin theDepartment ofMSS in theBritishMuseum,v. 2, ed. H. L. D. Ward
(London,1893),631, 690; CatalogueofRomances,3589, no. 92, 707, no. 12. ComparewithLiber
Exemplorum, no. 26, 15-16;Jacquesde Vitry,TheExemplaor Illustrative storiesfromthesermonses
vulgaresofJacquesde Vitry, ed. ThomasFrederickCrane(London,1890), no. 131, 59 and with
Cantigasde SantaMaria,no. 85.
6* in Alfonsoel
Cantigas,no. 107. Anita Benaim de Lasry,"Marisaltos:ArtificialPurification
Sabio's Cantiga107,"inStudieson theCantigasde SantaMaria: Art,Music,Poetry,Proceedingsof
the International Symposium on the Cantigas de Santa Maria in Commemoration of its 700th
Anniversary Year 1981, eds. Israel J. Katz, JohnE. Keller, Samuel G. Armistead, and JosephT.
Snow (Madison, 1987), 299-311; AlbertI. Bagby,Jr.,"The figureof theJewin the Cantigasof

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 Medieval Tales of Non-ChristianMarian Veneration 57

much fit the patternof European stories of Muslims who, upon encountering
Mary, are led to adopt Christianity.The tone of these particularstories is fairly
neutral. Many, however, were not. WithinEurope, some of the stories focused
on revenge against at least part of the Jewishcommunityor family. In the oft
repeated tale of the Jewishboy who is cast into the oven by his fatherbecause
the child heard Mass with his Christianschoolmates, the child and his mother
embrace Christianity, while the fathersuffersthe fieryend he soughtto inflicton
his child. The child was protectedfromthe flames by the Virgin.64 Exempla
narratingMary's revenge against violent and recalcitrantMuslims also abound;
however,theyoftenare outnumberedby storiesof Jews who come to bad ends.
Authors such as Gautier de Coincy and Alfonso the Wise made theirhostility
towardthe Jews quite explicit; Alfonso statedthatJews were farmore hated by
Mary than the Muslims.65 European pilgrims to the Holy Land created or
coopted pre-existingstories about Jewish encounterswith Mary for theirown
purposes. As withtales of Muslim-Marian encountersderivingfrompilgrimsto
the Near East, Jews, unlike their co-religionistsportrayedin European-based
exempla,do not convert. Jews,however,occupied a lower place in the Christian
religioushierarchythanMuslims.
Several collections of exempla include a storyof a Jewishwoman who was
having difficultygiving birth. Desperate, she calls upon the Virgin Mary, who
bringsabout a safe deliveryforthe child. In the versions writtenin Europe, the
Jewish woman and her other children convert to Christianityas a result of

AlfonsoX," in ibid.,235-45; Remensnyder, "The VirginMaryand Conversion";Trivison,"Prayer

andPrejudicein theCSM"; Jonathan Elukin,"The DiscoveryoftheSelf:Jewsand Conversionin the
TwelfthCentury," in Jewsand Christiansin Twelfth-Century Europe,ed. Michael A. Signerand
JohnVan Engen (NotreDame, 2001), 63-76; idem,"FromJew to Christian? Conversionand
Immutability in Medieval Europe,"in Varietiesof ReligiousConversionin the MiddleAges, ed.
JamesMuldoon(Gainsville,1997), 171-89;WilliamChesterJordan, "Adolescenceand Conversion
intheMiddleAges: A ResearchAgenda,"inJewsand Christians in Twelfth-Century Europe,77-93.
^This particular storyfindsa place in mostexemplaand Mariancollections.See, forexample:"El
librosde los Exemplos,"Bibliotecade autoresespañoles,no. 200; Recullde eximplise miracles,no.
265; Liberde MiraculisMariae,ed. Crane,no. 3 1; Gonzalode Berceo,Milagrosde NuestraSeñora,
no. 16; Cantigas,no. 4; Gautierde Coincy,Miracles,v. 2, 95-100; MiriRubin,GentileTales: The
Narrative Assaulton Late MedievalJews(Cambridge/New York,1991),7-39.
65Gautierde Coincy,Miracles,v. 1,64, v. 2, 22-3; Cantigas,no. 348. Gautierhas onlyone storyofa
Muslim,who,as mightbe expected,converts(he does so whenhe sees an imageof Maryexudeoil;
see Gautierde Coincy,Miracles,v. 3, 23-6 and discussionabove). The tonetowardtheMuslimis
fairlypositive.By contrast Gautier'sattitudetowardsJewswas as negativeas his talesof themare
numerous.GilbertDahan,"Les Juifsdans les Miraclesde Gautierde Coincy,"ArchivesJuives16
(1980): 16:3, 41-9; 16:4, 59-68. On AlfonsoX's strongly negativeviews of theJewssee Bagby,
"The figureoftheJewin theCantigas" The percentage breakdown of storiesin whichJewsversus
Muslimsconvertin comparisonto thosewho suffervengeancein the Cantigasare approximately
even,thoughAlfonso'sremark suggeststhathe saw Jewsas morereprehensible.

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58 Alexandra Cuffel

Mary's miraculous intervention.66 Affagartand Suriano, in their quest to

demonstratethat all nations must bless Mary, also included this storyin their
narratives,but with an importantdifference. When the Jewess, promptedby a
Christianfamily,calls for Mary's aid she immediatelydelivers safely,but she
promptly casts the image away, exclaiming "Out Mary, out!" Suriano
generalized the storyso thatall the Jewishwomen of Venice had to call upon
Mary in orderto give birth.67
This account most resembles the tale of the Muslim custodian of Mary's
grave. The point of Suriano and Affagart'sstoryof the sufferingJewess, and
even the relativelymore benign tales of Jews condemned to death or beset by
thieves only to be rescued by the Virgin Mary mentionedabove, is subjugation
to Christianity. Unlike the account of the Muslim custodian and his sons,
however, the Jewess of Venice garners no joy from Mary, venerates her
unwillingly,and casts her away as soon as possible. Thus to a Christian
audience, the Jewess would have appeared ungrateful,and her venerationof
Mary entirelytheproductof theVirgin's power to bend othersto her will.
The relativelymore negative depiction of Jews in contrastto Muslims can
be traced to the greateranimosity of Christianstoward Jews. To Christians,
Muslims were the heretical,sometimesdemonicallyinspiredholders of the Holy
Land.68 Jews, on the otherhand, were the very killers of God in the person of
Jesus,and while protectedby Church and secular law, theywere regardedwith
increasing suspicion as a malevolent, though politically powerless, presence
withinthe very heartof Christendom.69Christians,when depictingthe Muslim
celebrationof Mary, could imagine a relativelymore distant,potentiallymore
benign people- their virtue all the more recognizable because they venerated
Mary, motherof God and other Christiansaints- than the Jews, whose long-
standingrejectionof Christianitywas well known. Furthermore, Christianshad
to make allowances for Muslims' political power. However much Christians
desired the conversion or subjugation of the Muslims, the Muslims remained
Christianity'sprimary rival. Thus to have portrayed Muslims as always
preparedto convertwould have been unrealisticto any Christianfamiliareither
withMuslim belief or withthemilitaryand political successes of Islam.

66Johnof
Garland,Stella Maris,no. 37, 127-8;JeanGobi,La Scala Coeli, ed. Marie-AnnePolo de
Bcaulieu (Paris, 1991), no. 660, 445-7; Cantigas,no. 89; Trivison,"Prayerand Prejudicein the
CSM."
67 Relationde TerreSainte,32-4; Suriano,//trattatodi TerraSanta,chap.XLI, Italian,94-
Affagart,
95, English,108. In Gobi's version,theJewessis also promptedbya Christianneighbor.See above.
68Daniel,Islamand theWest,80-9,94, 166, 184-8,191-2,273,276, 283; Tolan,Saracens,105-69.
69Robert Chazan,MedievalStereotypes and ModernAntisemitism (Berkeley,1997); Jeremy Cohen,
"The Jewsas Killersof Christin the LatinTradition,fromAugustineto the Friars,"Traditio39
(1983): 1-27.

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 Medieval Tales of Non-Christian Marian Veneration 59

In Iberia, where Christianswere slowly but steadilymaking significantprogress

in the militaryconquest of Muslim territories, depictingMuslims as frequently
defeatedwas less problematicthanin Syria,Palestine, and Egypt,where Islam's
political and religious superioritywould have been very evident. Yet Christians
did sufferdefeat in Spain, and, as in the Eastern Mediterranean,Europeans in
Iberia had the opportunityto observe and even join in certainMuslim religious
practices shared by Muslims and Christians alike.70 For these reasons the
Cantigas de Santa Maria especially evinces characteristicswhich are common
both to exempla and Marian miracles about Muslims and Jews compiled farther
northand to ones peculiar to Europeans visiting the Levant and Egypt. So,
Christian authors in the Near East and sometimes in Iberia made Muslims'
simultaneous steadfastness to their own faith and their love of the Virgin
intertwined virtueswhich ultimatelytestifiedto the power and truthof the Virgin
Mary, and the religion which, in Christian minds, she represented. That the
Virgincould command Muslims allowed her,and thusChristians,to lay claim to
some of the prowess and militaryglory of the Muslims as well as simply
subvertingit. Jews had no militaryprestige to offer,and they refused to
recognize even "half-truths"about Mary and Jesus. Thus in these stories there
were but three options for Jewish characters: to convert, to die and be
condemned to hell, or to remain alive, unconverted,but clearly despicable yet
dependent on the Virgin. All three possibilities served to prove to Christian
readers and hearers, the Tightnessand power of Mary and Christianity. That
Jews regularlyneeded Mary despite theirvehementrejectionof her was perhaps
the strongestdemonstrationof Christianity'spower precisely because of the
level of coercion involved.
This statusbefore Mary, in which Muslims and even Jews on the one hand
were part of the communityof Mary's devotees, but at the same time retained
their own religious identity - albeit inferiorin the eyes of Christians- also
paralleled wider debates among Christianlegal thinkersabout the statusof non-
Christians. According to these canonists,beginningwith Pope Innocent IV in
the mid- to late-thirteenth century,Muslims and pagans were to be allowed to
retaintheirsovereigntyand the freedomto choose theirreligionsboth withinand
outside the bounds of ChristianEurope. The rules under which Christianswere
permittedto wage war against them were becoming more restrictive;however,
Christian lawyers argued that the Pope had the right to decide if these non-
Christians were truly following their religious faith and laws in the proper
fashion,and punish them if they were not.71 So too, under Mary, these non-

70Fernando de la Granja,"FiestasCristianasen al-Andalus,"Al-Andalus34 (1969): 1-53; and 35

(1970): 119-42.
71James Muldoon,Popes,Lawyersand Infidels(Liverpool,1979),4-28, 105-31.

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60 Alexandra Cuffel

Christianfollowersweregranted a place beforeher,althoughinferior

in relation
to Christians,
withprivileges, and
freedoms, punishments forthosewho werenot
trulyobedient to this most holy Lady's commands. Thus the burgeoning
theologycreatedto "explain"why Muslims,and, in theory,Jews,venerated
Maryreflected notonlythechangesin Christians' attitudes
towardMaryherself,
butChristians'struggle to imaginea worldorderwhichincludedand interacted
withpeoplesandfaithsotherthantheirown.

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